26 January 2005 -- Two car bombs exploded in the Iraqi city of Kirkuk today, one near a police station and the other at a market place.

Police in Kirkuk said the explosions happened in Kirkuk's western Al-Riyadh neighborhood.

Police said at least seven people were killed in the explosion at the police station. There were no immediate reports of casualties in the second explosion.

Another car bomb exploded on the road leading from the Baghdad international airport, wounding four U.S. soldiers.

Residents of the western town of Ramadi reported fighting between U.S. forces and insurgents. There was no word on casualties there also.

U.S. General John Batiste, who commands U.S. forces in the sector north of Baghdad, said that Al-Qaeda fighters and Ba'athist supporters of ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had joined forces. Batiste termed the alliance "a marriage of convenience" to oppose the 30 January national elections.